Fixation

How Office Memes on Instagram Became the New Dilbert

From Dilbert through the ’90s to The Office in the early 2000s and Silicon Valley in the 2010s, white-collar office satire has long served as a coping mechanism to process the frustration (and, occasionally, existential dread) that accompanies accepting your role in late capitalism. Pandemic work memes — the latest genre of white-collar satire to proliferate popular media — are no exception. Right alongside the influencers and foodies of Instagram, you can also scroll through satirical accounts like Litquidity, linkdinflex, MBA-ish, and consultingcomedy — proof that not even a global pandemic, the shuttering of nonessential offices, and the near cleaving of democracy can stave off a universal appetite for timely corporate humor. I, for one, am thankful for these accounts’ commitment to remote work goofs in the face of daunting changes at work and beyond. It’s not just a welcomed replacement for doomscrolling through Twitter, but a good excuse for laughing off Sunday scaries that increasingly span the full week.

Originally published in Marker’s Buy/Sell/Hold newsletter. Sign up for it here.